The El Monte High School boys soccer team felt it let one get away a few weeks back at Arroyo, losing its only game of the season 1-0 after missing a penalty kick in the final minutes that would have tied it.

El Monte was ready for the rematch on Thursday for sole possession of first in the Mission Valley League. It wasted no time winning every loose ball and racing to a 3-0 lead in the first 20 minutes before settling on a 4-2 victory to improve to 11-1 overall and 5-1 in the MVL. Arroyo, which lost earlier in the week 3-2 to Mountain View, dropped to 12-2-4 and 4-2.

“They came out like a hurricane,” Arroyo coach Frank Raygoza said. “They’re a great team, let’s give them credit. We knew they were going to come strong and we thought we were prepared for it. I just felt they were a better team today.”

El Monte’s Francisco Saucedo, who led the way with two goals, missed a header off the post in the second minute but came right back in the eighth minute, converting a pass from Miguel Cruz.

El Monte kept the pressure on, going up 2-0 on a short corner from Jesus Garcia to the near post that found Cruz, who poked it home in the 16th minute. Angel Gonzalez scored a minute later as the Lions took a commanding 3-0 lead, a far cry from their first meeting at Arroyo when they struggled to create scoring opportunties.

“We’ve worked hard the whole year and we knew Arroyo was going to try to do what they did at their field, which was touching the ball, sending balls to the back and rotating the ball,” El Monte coach Jonathan Orozco said. “We knew it would be hard and we don’t have a nice field. It’s shorter, it’s not that wide, so we knew if we kept the pressure on and just fought that it would gives us chances, and we took advantage of it.”

Arroyo’s Nick Lozano scored on a 20-yard free kick in the 25th minute that cut El Monte’s lead to 3-1 at halftime.

But Saucedo, who also had an assist to go with his two goals, scored on a 30-yard free kick in the 55th minute to go up 4-1.

“We missed a penalty kick last time and lost to them (Arroyo),” Saucedo said. “Since Monday we’ve been working hard for this. But we can’t get cocky. This was a great win, but we have a lot of tough games left before we can call ourselves (league) champions.”

The only negative for El Monte is that goalkeeper Ramon Rodriguez was red-carded in the 70th minute for a hard foul, which led to Arroyo’s second goal, a penalty kick converted by Adrian Ramirez.

Rodriguez will have to miss the Lions’ next game against winless Gabrielino, but it surely didn’t spoil the Lions’ best win of the season.

“We’re a team that likes to pray,” Orozco said. “We feel there is someone out there helping us and we came with the mentality that if we put in the work, things will work out. I’m so proud of these guys.”

El Monte is also fighting for respect. Arroyo came in ranked seventh in Division 5 with El Monte unranked despite the fact it only has one loss.

“It’s not just about the polls,” Orozco said. “It’s about getting the guys to commit to something more than just sports. We’ve been ranked a couple of times in the past. It feels good to see your name there, but it feels better winning games like this.”